Under Strong Tides

II

Still waters run deep.... 

-Anthony Trollope

Eden rose to the surface, giving a small gasp for air. He could give himself gills if he wished, or transmutate into one of his Dōbutsu form that could breathe in water. However that would use magik stamina and he wished not to use his abilities.  Darkness had fallen as the moon rose high in the sky. He needed to stay away from his father in order to prevent his abilities growing. Akuma often tried forcing him to feed from another, which would greatly increase the growth of his strength. 

The daemon enjoyed swimming very much, often using the time to calm down and forget what he really was. He was dangerous. Maybe he'd sleep in his cabin tonight instead.  At least while he was there, he wouldn't have to deal with his father and brother jumping down his throat again for the night.  Only his mother seem to understand his point of view or even seem to care about him at all. The men only wanted him to train and grow stronger. 

Laying on his back, Eden began to float on the surface of the water, his eyes closed as he thought about that day. He sighed heavily and tried to forget what he had done, but how could he. He was gone. There was nothing he could do about it now. If only he had controlled himself...

               __________               

A suppressed scream, the electricity in the air.  He couldn't stop himself. A blade of lightning shot across the way, striking a figure directly in the chest, His heart stopped. Eden didn't mean to do it. That's not who he was aiming for... He couldn't focus his power. He was only training.. It wasn't meant to be deadly.  He could remember how it started. 

" Father Akuma, I want to train too! You always train with Saisho!" A young Eden whined, grabbing his father's arm. 

"No." A firm answer, " You're not strong enough for this training yet... " Akuma frowned at Eden and focused on developing the child, Saisho's abilities. They were both still young and in a human's eyes, Saisho was only 5 years older than Eden. 

" But I want to be strong too!" He whined, stomping his foot. 

" When you're older. " Akuma stated, showing Saisho how to focus his power. Eden felt snuffed so he ran off to find his best friend. He ran for a good while before running up to a slightly dilapidated house and knocking on the door.

" Hi Mama Fune. Can Moshi come out and play, now?" he smiled, bouncing on his heels. The woman who answered the door smiled and nodded, calling for her son. 

" You're looking a lot better than a week ago, Eden. " She noticed. Eden was constantly sick as a child. He was always smaller than the other's his age. When he was in his mother's womb he almost didn't make it, until... 

              _____              

Eden suddenly sputtered and rose back to the surface. He hadn't realized he sank in the ocean until the water rushed his lungs.  He coughed a few times to clear the water before wiping the droplets from his face and the hair from sticking to it. He opened his eyes to see Kyla, his spirit companion. He sighed a bit and splashed her,  " Shut up. I dozed off. " he chuckled a bit and she trilled happily, swimming around in the water. 

Like Eden she had many forms. At the moment she appeared as a tiny mermaid girl with just a bit more fins and gills. Kyla loved water almost as much as Eden so she was almost always in this form unless she was on land. She even preferred to sleep in a fish bowl in his room.   Making a soft chirping noise she captured Eden's attention with her head tilted. 

He replied, " No I don't want to talk about it. " She chirped again and he sighed, " You know why." Huffing softly she trilled a squeak. He replied again, almost as if he understood her, " No, I'm fine. " she raised a brow, chirping again, " Because i'm hiding from 'Father Akuma'. " he rolled his eyes and laid back in the water as she trilled again, " He's trying to make me train again, what else?"

" Hey, Eden!" A male voice called. Eden looked over to the shore line to see a black haired, blue eyed male. It was Yūjin, his best friend, " Who are you talking too?" Eden looked around to see Kyla had fled. She was a very shy spirit.

Eden chuckled and swam up to the shore, " Kyla. You know how shy she can be. You scared her off again. " He brushed his fingered through his hair, gather the water in his hand before tossing the accumulated water ball back into the ocean.

"It still amazes me that you can dry your hair like that." Yūjin shook his head and laughed, making Eden laugh, " How are you?"

" Eh. Hiding again. " The water-centric daemon sighed, " Come up to the cabin. I can make tea. I caught some fish a little while ago and I need help preserving them."

"Yeah like you need help." Yūjin laughed before hitting Eden's arm, " I'll race you. " Yūjin liked to race even though he was slower than Eden. He was only a Hafū daemon, which still had him taller than Eden, but slower due to their power differences.

" Alright. Winner gets the good plate. " He chuckled, even though he'd likely let Yūjin win just because he didn't mind letting his friend use the only plate without a break in it. The stood at the ocean break before sprinting over to the cabin, Eden trailed behind letting Yūjin win. The older male, Yūjin, smiled and proudly entered the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Hey Eden."

" Yeah, Yūjin?" Eden replied, descaling two fish for dinner while Yūjin prepared some vegetables.

" Why did you come here when you left? You could've had any place that you wanted. You could easily compel a human to give you their home instead of living in this crap shack." Yūjin asked, chopping some carrots and washing peas.

" Hey I like this crap shack." Eden said defensively, " And You know I don't like using my abilities on humans... Or rather.. at all. " He sighed and started gutting the fish. " Are you planning to spend the night or go home?"

" Probably go home. Moms back is acting up again. " Yūjin sighed. His mother was human, which was why he was a half-daemon. He was picked on in their youth for it, which is where they bonded, since Eden was picked on for his size.

" How is she?" Eden asked, disposing of the fish guts in he waste bin as he began to prepare herbs for the fish. " She's getting up there for a human. Why won't she just accept the daemon's blood? She'd live longer and wouldn't be in such pain.." Eden felt bad for her.

Yūjin sighed, "My mother wants her too but she doesn't want it. She thinks she's had a full life already. She doesn't want to 'cheat god'." He replied before chuckling, " I think it's funny how she remained so religious after marrying and birthing daemons."

" At least she doesn't believe all daemons are bad like some religious groups do. They piss me off sometimes... Especially hunters. Or Farmers. Why can't they just leave us alone?"  Eden growled a bit. 

Yūjin laughed and put a hand on Eden's shoulder, " Down fido. You don't want to burn the fish. You're so scary when you're mad. "

" I'm not mad. I'm fine. " He huffed and set the fish in the pan ," AND HOW COULD I BURN THEM IF I DIDN'T PUT THEM IN THE PAN YET?" He turned to Yūjin who broke out in laughter, Eden soon following suit.